As director of corporate public affairs, a position he took over in 2010, Baumgartner, who retired earlier this year, was all over the place as he represented Caterpillar’s interests on the local scene.

In his place comes Henry Vicary, who takes on a new position at Caterpillar: community relations manager.

Peoria born and bred, Vicary, a second generation Caterpillar employee, said the new post concentrates on central Illinois.

“I’ll be working with the City Council, County Board and other boards. I look forward to re-engaging myself with folks I’ve known over the years,” said Vicary, 47, a Morton resident who joined Caterpillar as an attorney in 2002 following a decade of private practice in Peoria.

“There’s a lot of horsepower in this town and we want to move the ball forward on a lot of issues,” he said. “Part of my charge will be FFCI, the CEO Council, working on downtown development and with the new Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce head Jeff Griffin.

“I want to be a point person for people. Caterpillar wants to help in this community,” he said.

Page 2 of 2 - It’s a case of common sense: here’s a country with needs that’s close enough to U.S. southern ports that a barge could be used to transport the grain grown right here in Illinois.

The problem is federal restrictions on financial transactions in Cuba make business dealings difficult, red tape that the corn growers and other farm groups would like to do away with.

“Illinois corn products could make significant improvements in the rations of the Cuban livestock herd,” said Gary Hudson, the association president.

This is not a new stand for Illinois, the first state to travel to Cuba to try to initiate trade efforts back in 1999. While some restrictions on trade and travel have eased over the years, the farm group seeks to knock down barriers that prevent the two countries from doing business together.

Steve Tarter is Journal Star business editor. Tarter’s phone number is 686-3260, and his email address is starter@pjstar.com. Follow his blog, Minding Business, on pjstar.com and follow him on Twitter @SteveTarter